


Imprisoned

by ewinkie



Series: Zutara Drabble December 2020 [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angsty Zuko, F/M, POV Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zutara Drabble December 2020, early early season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewinkie/pseuds/ewinkie
Summary: Everything reminds him of her. It's inescapable. Just like the revelation that he betrayed her.ORZuko feels super guilty and conflicted about betraying Katara in the Crystal CatacombsWritten for Zutara Drabble December 2020: Day 3: Heavy Hearts
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zutara Drabble December 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038174
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	Imprisoned

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I actually wasn't planning on writing today since I've got other stuff in my life, and no ideas for this prompt. And then I got an idea. So here we are.
> 
> Btw, Zuko is in his super angsty phase here. Be warned.
> 
> Also, what's this? Me writing under 1000 words? Weird.

Zuko had _thought_ he felt imprisoned back in Ba Sing Se. Who wouldn’t feel that way in a dead-end job and a city full of walls and creepy Earthbenders (he tries very hard to not think about the fact that Azula brought the creepy Dai Li agents with her, on this very ship)?

And it’s probably ridiculous for him to feel so imprisoned when his uncle is literally in a cell on some other part of the ship. But as much as he wants Uncle to not be imprisoned, Uncle made the wrong choice. _How_ could he not have wanted to go home? _How_ could he not have wanted to be a hero? How could he not have wanted his old life ba–

Oh. It suddenly occurs to Zuko that his Uncle’s old life _is_ in Ba Sing Se. With Lu Ten. He takes a few moments to miss the cousin that first helped him learn to wield swords, and another moment to think it all over.

What he decides is that it’s much better to miss someone at home, in a palace with turtleducks, and pretty ponds, and beautiful ocea–

No. _Not_ beautiful oceans. Beautiful oceans are what cause his current feelings of imprisonment.

He can’t go outside during the day. By some cruel trick of fate, the clear blue water is _exactly_ the color of her eyes. _Exactly_. Looking out over the sea just transports him back to the caves, where he looked into that exact same shade of blue. One of her hands was on his face, the other holding onto a vial of sacred water _that she wanted to use to help him_. Her enemy.

The solution would seem obvious; just go outside at night instead. But then, he has to see the moon, and he’s yanked back to the North Pole. The place where he told her about her connection to the moon. He sees the beautiful, celestial brightness, and he sees her fighting tooth and nail to protect the avatar.

 _Well, dum dum_ , he imagines Azula would say, _just stay below deck if it’s that difficult_. So, he gives that a shot. But then, ugh, then he’s back on _his_ ship, and for some bizarre reason, even though he lost it months and months ago, he keeps going to fidget with the necklace on his wrist, only to realize it isn’t there.

And he… well, he feels guilty. It’s not like how he feels guilty about betraying Uncle, who really betrayed _him_. His guilt is just an emotional reaction to seeing someone he cares about in such an awful position.

But with _Katara_ – no, the avatar’s waterbender – it’s different. Her people are literally at war with his; her fighting him is by no means a betrayal. She has no obligation to not harm him, or even to be nice to him!

And yet, she was. She went from yelling at him to standing a mere breath away from him.

She offered to use spirit water (spirit water! That stuff is _rare!_ ) to heal his scar, even though he quite literally chased her halfway around the world. And tied her to a tree. And tried to bribe her with her dead mother’s necklace.

 _Why_ would she help him? This question is the reason he’s awake at this hour, standing on the deck of the ship, washed in the moonlight that forces her face into his mind. There was nothing for her to gain. The only answer he can give is compassion.

And since she was so very kind to him, then it must’ve been him who betrayed her. Zuko doesn’t like that. He doesn’t like knowing that he was the one in the wrong, and he likes it even less that she was genuinely hurt by it.

Because it must mean that she cared.

Zuko watches the sun rise, turning the ocean the color of her eyes, and the sky the color of his flames.

Zuko is trapped in a prison of his own making. And he much preferred the one made of green crystals.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank's for readin'!
> 
> <3


End file.
